


The story of Loki and Lolo

by Reindeerlady



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Bucky Barnes Has Issues, Bucky Barnes Has PTSD, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Depressed Bucky Barnes, Erik Killmonger Has Issues, Erik Killmonger Lives, F/F, F/M, Flashbacks, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, I Don't Even Know, Kid Loki (Marvel), Loki (Marvel) is a Good Bro, M/M, Natasha Romanov Has Issues, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Other, Protective Natasha Romanov, Redemption, Shapeshifter Loki (Marvel), Shuri and Peter just want to help, Team as Family, Therapist Loki is in the house, Thor (Marvel) Needs a Hug, Thor (Marvel) is a Good Bro, Tony Stark Has Issues, Worried Thor (Marvel)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-07
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-07-27 12:17:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16218878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reindeerlady/pseuds/Reindeerlady
Summary: After Thanos had been defeated, and the snap undone, people started to come back. Of course, the people who had only faded away after the snap all came back, however, a few people all connected to the Avengers, who had died from other causes, in some way all appeared a few weeks later with no explanation. One of them is a little different, and he becomes the new Avengers glue, and a tiny security blanket.





	1. It's you, me.

**Author's Note:**

> Why is there an a smaller snake than I remember, a British microwave, and a depressed assassin ( one of three in this story,) in my living room?

_Hello?_

_Talk to me?_

_Hello?_

The boy who didn't know fell. He fell faster and faster through the endless void that- he couldn't quite see, couldn't quite remember where he had fallen from, where he was falling to, how he had fallen in the first place, wondering when and where he would land.

_Hello?_

"Hello?" The boy called into the nothingness, startled now and surprised at the sound of his own voice. Why was that? Why was he surprised by his own voice? There was a reason, he was sure, but he didn't know the reason. He didn't seem to know anything at the moment. 

_You can hear me now, yes?_

"Yes." The boy said to no one.

 _I am you._ The voice that sounded older and more tired than his own voice said. 

 _From before._ The voice decided to clarify.  _You have been given a second chance. Don't screw this up, okay? Promise me you will be better for him, you are all he has left now..._ The voice sounded less indifferent and more upset now. 

"What," The boy asked," Er, I promise me." He corrected himself as the falling became faster, then returned to its normal pace. 

"Who is he? What did I- what did we do?" The young soul questioned himself, who seemed to be nowhere and nothing. 

_We are Loki, you and I, we are always ourself. He is your brother, you will know him when you see him. We were not the best, but we have been given a second chance. We do not have much time left. I am going to give you some of my- our memories now. Good ones._

"Okay." The boy, Loki, wished to ask himself some more, this older, wiser, past self. He didn't even know where he was going, but the voice seemed to. Perhaps to life? To life, Loki was going. 

 

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

 

In the blink of an eye, Loki stood in the middle of an alley way. 

" I am alone." He thought out loud. 

_You are not alone._

Loki turned around to see a transparent green man, himself, his older self, with a scar on his neck and floating cross legged in the air. 

 _"_ It's you, myself!" Loki exclaimed to himself. 

 _Quiet, someone will think you are a lunatic, I don't want a repeat of that, especially since we are back in New Yo... never mind what I said, child. I do not- This was not supposed to happen. I am not supposed to be present within you._ Other Loki chided, running a hand through his hair that was far longer than new Loki's. 

I like having you here. Perhaps you can help me understand things that I do not? A teacher? You do seem quite wise. Loki thought to himself, literally.

_Perhaps... Perhaps that is not bad, I will teach you magic, I will prevent you from making the mistakes I made. You will be good, understand?_

Okay, me. Loki responded, smiling.

The other Loki did not comment as Loki surveyed his surroundings, seeing dirty garbage cans, brick walls and lots of paper crumbled up on the ground, the chatter of people in the streets. He looked down at his clothes- a long sleeved, plain black shirt and comfortable grey sweat pants. His hair was shorter, a bit curly, and unkempt, his face more innocent, vibrant forest green eyes, smaller. unlike his counterpart's slicked back, spiky hair, sunken cheekbones, dark circles under pal eyes, lanky, very tall build, with the strange bruised, scarred mark like a large hand print on his neck. 

  _I chose the outfit so that you might find it easier to blend in on this realm._

Thank you. How old am I? Loki looked down at his hands. 

The other Loki took a moment to consider, hand on his chin. 

 _I believe you are around 450. So, mortals will see you as about 8 or 9._ Other Loki answered, hovering just above Loki now. 

Can everybody see you?

_Only you can, unless I want others to see me, and I **do not.**_

Loki decided that the other Loki seemed tense and probably didn't want to talk much anymore. 

Other Loki, Loki decided to call him Lolo, trailed behind him wistfully. 

Loki wandered ahead of him, going nowhere in particular, carefree and excited to explore as Lolo anxiously fiddled with his hair. Loki tried to be nice and pretended not to notice how scared Lolo was, because Lolo was trying to be brave. Loki could see strange metal boxes on wheels, on the road, because of Lolo's memories, Loki could identify them as cars, and that meant he was on Midguard. "New york" was what Lolo's memories were echoing in his head. 

The young god of mischief and his older self were snapped out of their not so blissful stroll as they heard a mans yell from just behind the alley way they came from. 

Loki, without thinking, dashed to the source of the noise. 

_Stop! What are you doing?!_

Someone could be hurt Lolo!

_I beg your pardon? Low- Low? loLO?!_

Loki's nickname for his specter counter part seemed to distract him, as Loki himself continued onward to the source of the noise. As he rounded the corner, Lolo just now following him, he saw the figure of a man, hunched over, gasping and touching his chest where there was nothing. There was no wound there, but he looked shocked, not in pain. The man had skin that was dark, he was tall and an adult like Lolo, he was dressed in a white T-shirt, a jean jacket, baggy black pants and boots, and he seemed to be startled how Loki himself had been after appearing here. 

"T'Chal- what- what the fuck?" He gasped, falling back and slumping against the same brick wall Loki had been standing by before. The man's hand, clutching his chest, shakily fell into his lap and he blankly stared at the garbage can across from him. 

"Did you fall? Through the nothing?" Loki gently asked him, cautiously moving into the man's line of vision, but the stranger still jumped, taking a moment to process the kids question, as Lolo anxiously stared at the display. 

"Y- yeah." The man looked frightened, his hand moving back to his chest. 

"I did too. Then I appeared where you just appeared now, I was here just a few minutes ago." Loki moved a bit closer to the man, sitting beside him on the wall. 

The man tensed, then relaxed. 

"My name is Loki. It's nice to meet you." Loki extended his hand towards the man. 

" Hi, Loki. I'm Erik." Erik attempted to smile at the kid. He did seem like a nice kid after all, Erik thought. 

 _He is nice to children, the former assassin..._ Lolo analyzed the man. 

He just needs a friend. Loki replied in his head. 

"Where- where are we Loki?" Erik asked, not really looking at Loki and staring at nothing. 

"Lolo says that we are here because we have a second chance." Loki grinned up at him. 

"Who's Lolo?" 

 _Lolo is no one, Loki._ Lolo said. 

" No one, sorry Mr. Erik, we are in New York, I think. " Loki replied.

"New York city?" 

"Yes." 

Erik said nothing, and looked down at his hands- before he was sitting in a Wakanda sunset, they were caked in his own blood, and his cousin was holding him. Now, he was in his museum outfit, the one he wore to take that Vibranuim, leaning onto this strange kid, Loki, who felt like an anchor in this strange, surreal predicament. 

"Let's be friends, okay? We can explore together and maybe find somewhere safe?" Loki suggested, and Erik's weary look melted away. 

Despite the fact that he just woke up in New York, unaware completely of how, why, etc, this kid was probably more scared and lost that him, though he didn't seem like it. Erik needed to be a responsible adult right now, and find somewhere to go. 

"Do you know where your parents are?" Erik tried. 

"I do not have any, anymore." Loki said, remembering one of Lolo's memories and frowning. 

"Oh. Hey- s'okay." Erik said outloud, internally strangling himself. "I mean, I don't got any parents either." He quickly followed up, using empathy. 

" I have an Idea, lets just walk around and explore, okay?" Loki smiled a bit, and Erik didn't have any better ideas, so thats exactly what they did. 

-

After about an hour of aimlessly following the skinny little kid around the streets of New York, Erik had found some loose cash in the pocket of his jacket, a lot, 40 bucks, and he could't really think straight so he decided to just buy himself and this weird kid street vendor hot dogs, Loki had apparently never had one, so there they sat, on bench in busy central park, eating crap and watching people commuting and going about their daily lives, tourists energetically taking photos, Parents with their kids, locals taking a walk, Teens skipping school and laughing together, the odd duo felt out of place as they ate what was essentially mystery meat. 

"Where are you from, Mr, Erik?" Loki turned to him, big green eyes, a mop of raven black hair, he was a cute kid. 

"Oakland, California." Erik said, biting into the shitty hotdog that would probably give him food poisoning. 

"Do you miss it? Tell me about it please?" Loki asked curiously.

"Haven't been back in a while. I miss the lake, kinda miss Park ave... miss the apartment I lived in when I was as old as you." He said answered thoughtfully. 

"I miss my home as well." Loki commented, staring off into space as Erik tried to meet his gaze. 

"Your home?" Erik asked. 

"I'm not quite certain- no. I miss my family. I don't know where he could be now. I just know I must get to him somehow." Loki clarified, seeming frustrated with himself, tearing off a little crumb from his hotdog bun to feed a lone pigeon. 

"I get that." Erik sighed, looking up at the skyscrapers and past all the bustling streets. He wondered what T'Challa, hell, even Shuri or the Queen were doing? They were the only family he had left. 

-

"Shit." Erik cursed under his breath. 

They had nowhere to sleep. He couldn't let this kid sleep on the streets or anything. For better or for worse, Loki and him were stuck together. 

"What is the matter?" Loki looked up at him with big, sparkly eyes in the cities late night light. 

"Uh- nothin'. Well- we have no money. I can't get us a motel room or anythin'." Erik attempted to explain to the innocent child, sort of failing miserably but feeling that he got his point across. 

"Money? Such as your Midguardian currency?" Loki titled his head like a cat would. 

"U.S dollars." Erik said, wondering if this kid was from England, or outer space, or what. 

"You mean like this?" Loki smirked mischievously, took Erik's hand, and promptly slapped 1 grand into his open palm. 

"Sorry- what?" The man sputtered, trying not to curse anymore in the presence of the 8 year old. 

"I saw the form of currency you used earlier to purchase those "warm canines,"" Loki made air quotes with both of his hands, "and I used my Seiðr to make some of it." Loki said.

"Um... What is Seiðr?" Erik asked, "And please, never say "Warm canine" again." He then shuddered. 

"Seiðr is the form of sorcery I practice, according to myself. And I am quite good at it." Loki made a motion with his hands and Erik could see illuminating green shapes and streaks of crackling yellow energy bursting from Loki's finger tips as the child excitedly demonstrated his abilities. 

The man himself had several questions, but now that they had the money for a decent hotel, and the fact that this day had been weird enough, Erik just shrugged and embraced the weirdness. 

"Cool. Lets go find a hotel, okay? Your magic saved our asses, so lets go eat some candy too."

"Okay!" Loki beamed as Erik took his hand and they walked over to the 7-Eleven, just as the sky turned dark. 

_I certainly like him. I think he is friend, yes little one?_

I think so Lolo!

_I suppose Lolo is fine then._ The specter smiled softly, drifting above the two alive, or perhaps resurrected beings. 

 

 

 

 


	2. A nice day

_Loki._

_Wake. up._

Loki's emerald eyes shot open to see Lolo looking down at him, his chin in his palm, brow furrowed, his legs folded behind him like the teenage girl on the bed in the horror movie Erik and him watched last night. 

"Good morning Lolo." Loki whispered happily as this ghostly companion rose a brow, being him with a parental look. 

 _"_ We can speak out loud?" Lolo questioned, his voice deep but smooth like velvet. 

"Well, I suppose we can whisper, Mr. Erik is not awake yet." Loki responded, pointing his thumb to the still sleeping Kill monger, who was snoring peacefully on the other bed. 

"Alright." Lolo said apathetically, his motions graceful and his body weightless as he hovered in the air just above Loki. 

Silence was present in the room for a good few seconds as Lolo looked at the wall, and unreadable expression on his face. 

"You know how young you are? How young you  _SOUND._ " Lolo muttered, putting emphasis on the last word. 

"Sorry?" Loki frowned in confusion. 

"Nothing, sorry." Lolo paused, briefly taking on a look of slight resentment, not at Loki but some form of inner turmoil. 

"It's just, when Thor sees you, I do not know how he will react. You cannot fathom- Well... He could be sad, or angry, or scared, or happy, or relived, or disgusted. I- I do not know what he will think of you, Loki." Lolo explained, gripping his head in exhaustion. 

"You opened up to me." Loki smiled up at Lolo, only causing Lolo to look far more worried. 

"That is another issue, you are me, when I was an optimist, a happy child." Lolo rubbed his face with his hands, then began scratching his left hand with his right, obviously a worrisome habit that developed from his anxiety. 

"I am sure he won't hurt me, Lolo. You said he was a "big happy puppy."" Loki reassured the elder thoughtfully. 

"I hope you are correct." Lolo plastered on a smile for him, which Loki appreciated, but since they were both the god of lies, it was quite easy to see it was more of a grimace. Loki decided to to tell Lolo that, because he knew that he was trying his best. 

-

After spending the majority of the day cooped up in the hotel room and trying understand what a "telly" was and how to use it with Lolo's confused guidance, Loki decided that Erik might be in a sour mood if he continued to slumber any longer, though his mortal body must be exhausted, as it was 2:00 PM and Erik had been " sleeping like a little babe," Lolo had laughed from the ceiling, contentedly flipping through the complementary, trashy celebrity magazines from the coffee table. 

Well, Loki thought it best to wake him up soon if they were to figure out their situation today, but Lolo stopped him as he began moving towards Erik's bed. 

"Perhaps brew him a cup of coffee first? He may appreciate the gesture." The elder recommended, pointing a slender finger towards the coffee machine on the desk next to Loki's bed. 

"What is coffee?" Loki curiously wondered aloud. 

"Coffee is a midguardian beverage severed both hot and cold, it contains caffeine, which acts as a sort of imposter to adenosine, a thing in our brains that... informs the body of our energy levels. Caffeine can fool the adenosine receptors and cause the adenosine to be blocked up, which makes you feel more awake, energetic, and generally increases productivity. Understand?" Lolo explained, making little hand gestures and speaking fluidly. 

"You are very smart Lolo. Will you be my teacher?" Loki asked, walking over to the coffee machine, letting Lolo guide him through the steps of making coffee. 

"Certainly, I do not have a choice, do I?" 

Loki giggled.

-

"Good morning Mr. Erik!" The familiar, excited voice chirped. 

"I mean, good afternoon!" Loki quickly corrected himself as Erik groggily opened his eyes to the cute kid holding streaming mug of coffee, still in his forest green shirt and his pants, his hair somehow significantly more messy that the previous day. Erik had only known this weird alien boy for less than 24 hours and was already willing to commit mass homicide for him. 

"Thanks kid." Erik happily accepted the coffee. 

"What did'ya put in this?" The man asked, tasting sweetness. 

"A sugar packet, I tried some of your midguardian drink, and it didn't taste very pleasant without sugar." Loki said, and Erik noticed he looked a little jittery. 

"Oh no. What time is it?" Erik groaned, falling back onto his pillow. 

"It's 2:20 PM, Mr. Erik." Loki replied quickly, now jumping on his own bed across the little room. 

"Jesus." Erik sighed, getting up awkwardly, as he had very uncomfortably slept in his jeans and T-shirt. He still was grateful that the kid made coffee, even if that meant he had to deal with a tiny speed demon alien all day.

Erik brushed his teeth with one of the weirdly shaped hotel tooth brushes, and Loki begrudgingly followed his example. Somehow, both of them smelled decent and despite the fact that they both looked and felt quite out of place and now jittery on caffeine, Erik decided it was best for them to go out, eat something, and maybe buy clothes and toiletries from the city target. ( The only reason Erik knew about the city target was that his jacket pocket, after transcending the laws of time and space, still contained his phone that miraculously wasn't dead.)

-

They had vegetable poke bowls for lunch, because Erik wanted to give the kid healthy food, but it was still nasty eating that hipster bull shit. Then, they walked a few blocks, heading to that city target. 

It was really odd for some reason, walking amongst normal civilians and tourist alike, completely unsuspecting that he was actually a former black ops solider, who just fell through space, landed next to a dumpster, and met a little kid who called himself " A frost giant, raised by the Æsir, trained in seiðr."

Well, some people stared for another reason. He was a 20 something Black man, with a white kid holding his hand and pointing at stuff, drawing more attention. Some fat white lady even had the goddamn audacity to "intervene," asking him if he was kidnapping Loki. 

Before Erik could say somethin' about babysitting for his friend at work, Loki piped up, surprising both him and the woman. 

"Madam, he is my adopted guardian. I came all the way from London, and he has kindly allowed me residence in his home, so please do not show him anymore disrespect based on flimsy assumptions and your biased views." Loki calmy dictated, making the woman shut up and walk away without her dignity. 

"You're, what, 8? Where'd you learn to lie like that? Do eight year olds comprehend prejudice?" Erik asked him as soon as she had disappeared into the busy streets and they had resumed walking.  

"I am the god of lies, and I am not sure, but I do." Loki grinned. 

"Not the weirdest thing I've heard you say." Erik decided to leave it at that as they walked through the automatic doors of target. 

- 

Apparently, Loki was kinda obsessed with the colors green and black, to the point where Erik made him buy a sweater with a jack-o-lantern from the halloween sale, and a turquoise and navy striped pair of PJ pants to balance out the two black pairs of jeans. Loki had gotten underwear, pants, shirts, socks the sweater, and a green hoodie with fluffy material on the inside, because Loki thought it looked cool and it was about to be the really cold part of the year in New York. 

Erik got a couple pairs of jeans, boxers, pants, shirts, and decided he didn't really need another jacket. 

They both walked out of there, carrying plastic bags stuffed with their clothes and some snacks, as well as plenty water bottles, soap, shampoo, and a razor for Erik, then Erik decided he might let Loki lead the way for today, as they didn't really have a goal and were still a bit shaken up. 

You see, that was probably a bad idea, because when Erik looked away for maybe 10 seconds tops, Loki was using "seiðr," or whatever he called it, to suspend fucking SPIDERMAN in the air, about 10 feet from hitting the pavement. Loki had caught THE spiderman using magic, and people were pulling their phones out. 

 

 

 

 


	3. New friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter Parker is too eager to make friends.

“So, you fell through a “nothing”?” Peter Parker shook his head in confusion, and then looked at the duo with his chocolate brown eyes.   
The three of them, Erik, Loki, and Peter, sat at the little table by the window of the subways, awkwardly sitting together as he questioned the two recently reborn villains.   
Or course, Loki’s original idea was to lie to Spider-Man about who they were. So naturally, Peter knew all about the two of them, as he followed the world of super heroes religiously. (Despite being a super hero himself.)   
They had quickly established that the godling and the man weren’t looking for trouble, that they were being good now and trying to lay low. They had explained their story to the strangely excited teen, that they both wished to use their second chances wisely. Said teen decided he would trust them for now.   
Peter had recognized Erik almost immediately as killmonger, and the the former killmonger himself had been oddly shaken by the news that Peter knew Shuri, the princess of Wakanda, and was a best friend of hers.   
It’s was similar with Loki, as Peter was friends with Thor, and that Peter currently lived his life residing 3 doors down from the Thunderer in the Avengers compound. Shuri lived there as well.   
Loki was surprised that the spider boy was telling them this much. Wouldn’t any Avenger deem the two, especially Loki himself, untrustworthy? With an ulterior motive, cruel intentions? Apparently, Peter was not most Avengers.   
“How, uh, how’s king T’Challa?” Erik suddenly piped up, looking like he wanted to die.   
“King T’Challa? He’s good, he uses his high tech stuff to teleport to New York when he’s not busy, and does Avenger stuff and hangs out with Shuri and everyone.”  
“Does he have a ring necklace?”   
“He used to only have one ring when he was on TV, but now there are two rings that are on a necklace. I haven’t asked him about it.” Peter answered thoughtfully. This seemed to stop Erik in his tracks, who was now processing Peters words.   
“Oh Loki! Thor stills talks about you all the time,” Peter said nonchalantly, taking a big messy bite of his foot long, “ like, he sees something that reminds him of you, and he’ll tell a whole story about how you replaced his mead with sheep’s blood on yule or something. He really misses you. He even has one of your old daggers and some of your books on the mantel in his room.” The not so professional Spider-Man rambled on with a full mouth, but it was very touching to hear that Thor still reminisced of him, despite all of Lolo’s mistakes, which were his mistakes.  
Lolo didn’t move, Loki could see him out of the corner of his eye. He was just blankly staring at Peter.   
Parker’s cheerfulness and friendliness to the two made the situation a bit lighter. However, now it was time for questions. Peter declared this, now looking dead serious.   
“Okay?” Erik swallowed, breaking into a cold sweat. Loki raised a brow.   
“Why are you an 8 year old? Is this the shapeshifting thing Thor mentioned?” Peter asked, his serious look dissolving as he looked confused again.   
“I was reborn. A second chance to be good. As you mortals say; “ beats me.” Loki answered him, the mischief god picking the strips of bacon from his sub, leaving everything else untouched.   
“Huh.” Peter huffed, contemplating the answer he was given. If Loki was lying, he could always just get Ms. Wanda or Dr. Strange to check, right? He wanted to believe Loki, he just looked and seemed like a cute little kid. One down, two to go.   
“Mr. Erik, the same thing happened to you. Why aren’t you a kid too?”  
“I don’t know why, don’t ask me.” The uncomfortable man stated his knowledge.   
“Okay.” Peter simply said, bobbing his head lightly to the pop song playing faintly through the stores speaker.   
“You guys uh... you guys want to see them right? You’re... families?” Peter carefully suggests after a bit of time consisting of them eating, and avoiding each others gazes.   
“Nah. Nope.” Erik shook his head, stuttering as he got up from the red stool and started to walk away.   
“Mr. Erik.”   
The frightened man abruptly stopped and turned his head in a jerking motion to see the little kid tugging on the back of his hoodie.   
“Do not go. I know you are upset my friend, but we are here for a reason. To resolve things.” Loki practically begged him.   
Erik remained where he stood, then slowly turned and moved his legs and body to face the kid, who he recently found out was the guy who invaded New York, who looks exhausted, and who looks... like a determined person. Despite only coming midway up Erik’s stomach.   
“Fine, but I gotta think about it.” Erik decided shakily.   
Loki smiles and hugged his waist, knocking the air out of Erik.   
The man patted the boys head, sighing as Peter awkwardly stood by.  
“You’re friends?” Peter questioned.   
“Indeed we are Parker. Why else might we be together when I caught you?” Loki giggled, letting go of Erik’s torso and looking at the once again deeply confused Spider-Man.   
“Yeah. This is weird. Like really weird?” Peter concluded, staring at the two who were so very different yet very much the same.   
The only reason Loki and Erik has started to seek out companionship in one another was because they had both found themselves in the same situation.   
Neither of them really knew just how much they had in common.   
They had both been villains, those who didn’t get to be good because they were different from the prince, the one who would be king. Denied of their birthrights. They had been cheated in many ways that eventually led to their villainy. Then they both died. Finally, they both woke up alive faraway, not knowing why, but trying to right their wrongs.   
“Oh yeah, I have one more question! Do you guys like the She-ra reboot?” Peter asked.   
Erik and Loki left shortly after.   
-  
“It is quite neat that we have acquired the spiderling’s cellular phone digits.” Loki hummed just about an hour later, skipping alongside Erik in late afternoon, who was holding the trickster god’s hand and looking ahead, his eyebrows knitted, but his face neutral.   
“Yeah, but it’s weird that he didn’t, y’know, report us to the Avengers or turn us in or something. My guard is up.” He said.   
“I think it was kind of him to give thee time to think the whole reunion plan over, even though he said he may have to tell them.” Loki responded.   
Erik said nothing.   
“What troubles you so?” Loki’s pace slowed slightly as his attention focused to Erik.   
“That’s it. Just worried.”   
“You cannot deceive the god of lies, even if the the god of lies is 8.” Loki reminded him smugly.   
“You’re a brat sometimes.” Erik laughed a bit, but then returned to his tense state.   
“It’s- I think T’Challa and Shuri would hate me. If they saw me again, I think they’d resent me. I was an inconvenience for them, I don’t think they’d wanna see me now.” He finally admitted, uttering it out.   
Loki said nothing for a moment, as they walked towards the unknown in silence.   
“Mr.Erik. I firmly believe that they will forgive you, if you can forgive your own past actions.” Loki decided.   
“Thanks kid.”


	4. Quiet contemplation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter thinks about all the shit he has to do tomorrow  
> Sorry for any typos, I wrote this at 1 AM on my phone

Peter didn’t know what to do, to put it simply.  
He swung home, after an uncomfortable session on putting his suit on, fumbling in the restaurants bathroom.  
Then, Peter closed the door and curled up in the bed, shutting out the rest of the world, and all the super hero’s he lived just a door away from since he moved out of Aunt May’s and into the compound.  
The teen thought he would be stressed and his mind would race, but strangely, he wasn’t able to think of anything at all. Instead, he reflected on some memories, not even trying to as he covered his head with the blankets.  
-  
“Hey Shuri.” Peter greeted as he sat down on the desk next to her swivel chair, she was making adjustments to Mr. Barnes’s arm while he took a nap. Peter set down the mug of tea he brought her and took a sip of his own.  
When she moved in a few months ago, from that day, Tony had given her a small lab space, and she had predictably spent a few hours each day cooped up in there. Since he made friends with her, he had quickly learned that she used this time to distract herself from her own homesickness.  
It made sense, she was only a year older than Peter himself, she was 16, and she’d never been this far from home for more than a couple days.  
Since she planned to live here for a while, seeing T’Challa every weekend was her saving grace. When he teleported with his fancy Wakandan tech that Mr. Stark was itching to learn about into the Avengers compound, he always checked up on Shuri, spent time with her and the Avengers, and did Avengers stuff with them, like fighting bad guys and having meetings.  
He would stay from Saturday morning to Monday morning unless he had had some urgent King business to tend to.  
On this particular evening, it was a Friday night.  
“Thanks.” Shuri said, tiredly blinking as she noticed the hot tea next to her computer.  
She took a sip of it, and sighed.  
“Work?” Peter asked.  
“Yes. I’m also thinking about life stuff.” She replied, resting her chin in her palm.  
“Do you wanna talk about it?” He encouraged her. Shuri didn’t talk about her feelings to often, and it couldn’t be healthy to bottle it up.  
“Sure.” She agreed, then paused for a moment as she drank some more of the hot beverage.  
Peter looked at her, patiently waiting for her to speak.  
She avoided eye contact as she set down the mug and began.  
“T’Challa started wearing the second ring around his neck this week. I saw it in an interview, and I’m not sure if I should confront him when I see him this weekend or what.” She mumbled, letting her shoulders droop and her forehead thudding to rest on the wooden desk.  
“Erik’s ring?” Peter’s eyes widened a bit. The killmonger was a touchy subject for the Wakandan siblings.  
“Yes.”  
“Why do you think he’s wearing it now?” Peter wondered out loud.  
“I don’t know,” Shuri’s muffled voice came from the desk, “ but I think he wanted better things for Erik. He wanted to bring Erik to the good side, family is really important in Wakanda. I think my brother actually misses him.” She finished.  
Peter contemplated her words for a moment.  
“This doesn’t seem like something you’d be upset about.” He concluded, not looking at her, but staring up at the ceiling. He knew she hated to be looked at when she was crying.  
He could hear her sniffles, as she searched for her words. A  
“I know, B-But, I-.... I think I miss him too. I n-never got to know him. I- and I know he wasn’t r-really bad. I know that. He was just... hurt.” She managed, before pausing for a good minute.  
Peter couldn’t help his worry, he looked over at her. She held her face in her hands, work forgotten as she wept.  
“God, you must think I’m pretty stupid huh.” She laughed, till on the verge of tears as she wiped her eyes.  
So Peter gave her a hug.  
That marked the day Peter became best friends with Princess Shuri.  
-  
“Hey, Mr. Thor?” Peter knocked on his open door one rainy afternoon to inform him that the Avengers were playing monopoly since it was their day off. ( well technically, they didn’t really have those, but they were gonna relax unless the world was in danger.) sometime around late January.  
The large god sat perfectly still in his room, sitting on the hardwood polished floor with his legs crossed, next to a fluffy white carpet that was made from some Asgardian forest creatures pelt.  
Thor’s gaze was held by a clear vase of water full of freshly cut carnations. The flowers were placed in front of a golden horned helmet, a helmet that Peter and millions of other Kids remember seeing all over the news while they all anxiously waited for the city to be un-evacuated.  
For Thor, the helmet must’ve been tied to more fond memories than not, as he always smiled a bit sadly when he looked at it, sometimes holding it for a bit, then putting in back on the mantel.  
“Did you know, little spiderling,” Thor said softly, “ that today, Loki would’ve been 1,040 years old?” The Thunderer smiled up at Peter, a regretful smile. Those always unnerved Peter. He was used to sunshiny, beaming smiles from their resident Asgardian. Everyone else was too.  
Peter sat down beside Thor, just a couple feet away, looking down at the helmet and the white flowers.  
“That’s about 20 in your Midgardian years.” He said.  
Peter gulped.  
“I’m sure he would’ve loved the flowers Mr. Thor.” Peter attempted to comfort the broken being.  
Thor chuckled a bit.  
“Ah, nay. Loki would have dreaded this arrangement. He would call me a sap and perhaps he’d mock me for being as such.” The god theorized, then laughed again. 

 

“What I would give just to hug my brother one more time. To apologize for what I said to him.” Thor whispered in a smaller, wavering voice.  
Peter put a hand on his shoulder.  
“I only knew Mr. Loki from scary news stories when I was little, but what from you and the other Avengers said about the scepter and the tesseract, I don’t think he was so bad after all. He loved you Mr. Thor, and I think he knew you loved him too.” Peter reassured him.  
“ I know what it’s like. My uncle Ben and I, we were super close, but the day he died, I got mad at him and said something really nasty. I regret that everyday. So I know what’s it’s like to love your family and regret not telling them that you did. Yeah.” Peter decided, trying his best to console the mourning god.  
“Thank you for your kind words and empathy, little spider. It is much appreciated.” Thor did a real smile, and Peter grinned back in response.  
They remained as they were for a good few minutes, then Thor moved the flowers and the helmet to his mantel, and decided to play some monopoly with his family since he was feeling better.  
-  
Peter opened his eyes.  
He could remember way Loki and Erik acted in the restaurant too.  
Erik was nervous, but seemed truthful and genuine based on his question about T’Challa and his freak out session. Loki seemed trustworthy as well. The look on his sad little face was genuine.  
Well, Loki swore over his mother that they would call Peter back within the next few days, so Erik could decide. ( though his preference might not matter in the long run.) Loki said he wanted to see Thor as soon as Mr. Erik made his decision, and that he was gonna help him through it.  
Peter groaned into his comforter.  
It was going to be both exhausting and excruciatingly awkward to explain that the two were both miraculously alive, seemingly with their villainous days long behind them, and one of them is somehow now a cute and tiny 9 something year old.  
“I’m gonna fucking die.” Peter muttered into the pillow.  
“Pete, according to FRIDAY, your vitals are fine, and language please.” Tony joked from the doorway.  
When Peter continued sulking under his blankets, Tony shuffled over and sat down next to Peter.  
“What’s wrong bud?” He asked in a fatherly tone.  
Peter decided to vaguely reply.  
“Have you ever had to make a really hard decision? Like, it doesn’t feel like any of your business, but it affects a lot of people you care about?” Peter asked.  
Tony frowned.  
“So, you’re not gonna tell me what’s bugging you?” 

“Alright. Yeah, I guess. My advice would be not to put too much pressure on yourself, and... maybe try and comfort the people it affects after all the decisions are made.” Tony offered.  
“Hm.” Peter made a noise of acknowledgement.  
“Thanks Dad. That actually helps a lot.” Peter replied, smiling just a bit, making the inventor happy.  
“Glad to help kid. C’mon, let’s go have dinner. Tonight is pizza night.”


End file.
